LWV Bowling Green and LWV Perrysburg Area encourages community to thank the Wood County Board of Elections

The following Letter-to-the-Editor was sent to the BG Independent News, Perrysburg Messenger Journal, and to the Bowling Green Sentinel in mid-December 2023.

To the Editor:

The year 2023 was a very busy one in the political life of Wood County.  There were two primary/special elections held, one on May 2nd, and one on August 8th, as well as the General Election held on November 7. 

 As we approach the end of this year, the Leagues of Women Voters of Bowling Green and the Perrysburg Area would like to recognize and thank the staff of the Wood County Board of Elections for their hard work in administering these elections and in voter registration.  Members of both political parties work together on the BOE to assure that fairness and accuracy are maintained.   These are just a few of the tasks they have performed this year, as required by law: 

• Maintaining an accurate list of all registered voters, and monitoring applications for early and absentee voting. 
• Assisting first-time voters in the registration process, and other voters changing their registration information when a name or address change is needed; both face-to-face and web information are in use in our county https://www.co.wood.oh.us/BOE/ 
• Certifying the validity of petitions for those running for office, both partisan and write-in candidates, as well as for initiatives, constitutional amendments, and a variety of non-candidate issues.  4.  Gathering campaign finance reports for local candidates and issues. 
• Training precinct election officials to handle in-person voting. 
• Being responsible for the official canvass of the votes for every issue on the ballot.
• Assuring that recounts of votes are done properly and reported to the public.

Our votes do count, and the Board of Elections administrators and staff do a wonderful job to assure that our democratic processes are reliable. Please join us in thanking the administrators and staff of the Board of Elections whose hard work keeps our elections secure.

Sincerely,

Lee McLaird, President, League of Women Voters Bowling Green                                                    Debra Greenley Gorman, President, League of Women Voters of the Perrysburg Area